The International Criminal Court versus the African Criminal Court A Remodelling of the Principle of Complementarity as a Solution to Potential Conflicts of Jurisdiction between the Courts

In 2014, the Assembly of the African Union amended the Statute of the prospective African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) by the adoption of the Malabo Protocol. The Annex to the Protocol confers an extensive international criminal jurisdiction to the ACJHR's International Criminal Law Section - often referred to as the African Criminal Court - which overlaps with the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). If the Protocol enters into force, the Courts will exercise concurrent jurisdiction over the same matters. Conflicts of jurisdiction would therefore arise should both Courts decide to exercise jurisdiction over the same situation or case. This article advocates for a remodelling of the principle of complementarity, enshrined in Article 17 of the Rome Statute and in Article 46H of the Annex to the Malabo Protocol, to solve these potential conflicts of jurisdiction. The arguments presented herein will be relevant to the relationship between the ICC and any regional criminal court which prosecutes international crimes that would take shape.